diff --git a/doc/FAQ.html b/doc/FAQ.html deleted file mode 100644 index 2955a62a..00000000 --- a/doc/FAQ.html +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1151 +0,0 @@ - - - -LameXP - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - - - - -

LameXP - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)


- -Table of contents:
- - -

- -What is LameXP ???
-
-LameXP is a graphical user-interface (front-end) for various of audio encoders: It allows you convert your
-audio files from one audio format to another one in the most simple way. Despite its name, LameXP is NOT only
-a front-end for the LAME encoder, but supports a wide range of output formats, including MP3, Ogg Vorbis,
-AAC/MP4, FLAC, AC-3 and Wave Audio. The number of supported input formats is even bigger! Furthermore LameXP
-does NOT only run on Windows XP, but also on Windows Vista, Windows 7 and many other operating systems.
-
-As all the encoders and decoders used by LameXP are already "built-in" (with one exception), you do NOT need
-to install any additional software, such as "Codecs", "Filters" or "Plug-ins", on your computer. Everything
-works "out of the box"! You can even use LameXP as a "portable" application, e.g. run it from your USB stick.
-Moreover LameXP was designed for batch processing. This means that you can convert a huge number of audio
-files, e.g. a complete album or even your entire music collection, in a single step. And, as LameXP is able
-to process several audio files in parallel, it takes full advantage of modern multi-core processors! However
-LameXP is NOT only optimized for speed, it also provides excellent sound quality by using the most
-sophisticated encoders available and by giving the user unrestricted control over all encoding parameters.
-
-In addition to that, LameXP provides full support for metadata, including cover art. So when converting your
-audio files, LameXP will retain existing meta tags. But there also is an easy-to-use editor for adding or
-modifying metadata. LameXP supports Unicode for both, meta tags and filenames, so there won't be any problems
-with "foreign" characters. And, thanks to our translators, the user-interface of LameXP is available in
-multiple languages. Last but not least, LameXP supports a number of post-processing filters, including sample
-rate conversion, normalization (gain), tone adjustment and downmixing of multi-channel sources.

- -

- -What platforms does LameXP run on?
-
-LameXP is currently being developed on the following platforms:
-
-The following platforms should work too, but aren't tested extensively:
-
-The following "legacy" platforms are NOT supported any longer:
-
-[*] Note: Windows XP has reached "end of life" on April 8th, 2014. This means that *no* updates or bugfixes
-for Windows XP will be available beyond that date. Thus, any security vulnerabilities discovered *after* this
-deadline will remain open, forever! Consequently, using Windows XP has become a security nightmare. And the
-situation is only going to get worse! While LameXP will continue to support Windows XP (needs Service Pack 3)
-for the foreseeable future, we *highly* recommend everybody to update to a less antiquated system now.
-Windows XP support will be discontinued in a future version, when most users have migrated to a newer system.

- -

- -What output formats (encoders) does LameXP support?
-
-Currently the following output formats are supported by LameXP:
- -

- -What input formats (decoders) does LameXP support?
-
-Currently the following input formats are supported by LameXP:
- -

- -My anti-virus program raises an alarm when I try to download, install or launch LameXP. Why is that?
-
-Occasionally your anti-virus program may mistakenly(!) detect malware ("virus", "trojan horse", "worm", etc.)
-in LameXP. This is called a "false positive" and the file is actually innocent/clean. It's an error in your
-specific anti-virus software. So in case you encounter such problems, please use http://www.virustotal.com/,
-http://www.virscan.org/ or a similar online-service to check the file in question with multiple(!) anti-virus
-engines. Especially take care with heuristic scan results like "suspicious", "generic" or "packed". Such
-results are NOT confirmed malware detections - they are speculative and almost always can be ignored safely!
-
-Apparently anti-virus programs tend to suspect installers or uninstallers created with NSIS. Furthermore some
-anti-virus programs blindly suspect ALL "packed" executables of being malware. Obviously that is a stupid
-generalization, because "EXE packers" are commonly used by legitimate software (inlcuding a large number of
-OpenSource tools), so please ignore these nasty warnings! Last but not least: Always keep in mind that LameXP
-is free software. If you don't trust the pre-compiled LameXP binaries that we provide, simply download the
-source codes, search the code for "malicious" functions (you won't find any ^^) and compile LameXP yourself!
-
-Another important fact to consider is that for the creator of LameXP, it is impossible to know WHY a specific
-anti-virus program is failing on our software. That's because anti-virus programs usually are proprietary
-ClosedSource applications, so we cannot know what's going on "behind the scenes". Consequently any attempt to
-guess what "aspect" of LameXP the anti-virus software is misinterpreting as malware would be pure speculation
-and might even change with the next anti-virus update. Only the developer of the anti-virus program can fix
-bugs inside the anti-virus program. So please report these bugs to the developer of your anti-virus program!
-
-Finally, be aware that we are NOT liable for any files (downloads), except for those that are directly linked
-on the official LameXP web-site or on one of the official mirros. Other web-sites may be redistributing our
-software, but we are NOT affiliated with or funded by any of these web-sites. So while the license of LameXP
-allows redistribution, there is absolutely NO guarantee that binaries offered by third parties are genuine!
-
-Conclusion: - -

- -Who created LameXP?
-
-LameXP was written from the scratch by LoRd_MuldeR <MuldeR2@GMX.de>. However it has to be noted that LameXP
-uses a number of third-party tools, which have been created by the individual authors. Moreover various
-people have contributed LameXP translations. Please see the "About" dialog for details! Also please do NOT
-send e-mail to LoRd_MuldeR directly, if the problem or suggestion can be discussed in the support forums!
-
-More OpenSource projects by LoRd_MuldeR at http://muldersoft.com/ and http://mulder.googlecode.com/.

- -

- -What license is LameXP released under?
-
-LameXP is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of an extended variant of
-the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License,
-or (at your option) any later version, but always including the *additional* restrictions defined in the
-"License.txt" file. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY;
-without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
-
-The licenses for most software and other practical works are designed to take away your freedom to share and
-change the works. By contrast, the GNU General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share
-and change all versions of a program - to make sure it remains free software for all its users. LameXP
-adds some additional restrictions to the license in order to keep your computer safe from unwanted software.
-
-Please see the GNU General Public License for more details!

- -

- -Do I have to pay for LameXP? / How can I donate to the authors of LameXP?
-
-LameXP is free software, so you may use it for free and for any purpose. Moreover the authors of LameXP
-currently do NOT accept any donations. Therefore you should NOT pay or donate any money in order to obtain
-LameXP! However it was brought to our attention that some dubious third-party web-sites offer "payed"
-downloads of LameXP and/or include Adware into the LameXP download. We do NOT cooperate with any of these
-sites. So if you pay for the LameXP download, the authors of LameXP will not get a single cent! Instead you
-should save your money and download LameXP from the official mirrors (see below), which is 100% free.
-
-If you want to support the development of LameXP, you can do so by contributing translations or code :-)

- -

- -Why is the thing called "LameXP" although it does so much more?
-
-LameXP was created as a (very simple!) GUI front-end to the LAME MP3 encoder, back in 2004. That version did
-NOT support any encoders except for LAME, it did NOT support any input formats other than Wave Audio files,
-it did NOT support any audio filters, it did NOT support multi-threading, it did NOT support Unicode file
-names and it did NOT handle meta data at all. Because the program really was nothing but (yet another) LAME
-front-end for Windows and because at that time Windows XP was the operating system of choice - for many
-people it still is nowadays - I decided to call the program "LameXP" (aka "LAME for Windows XP"). Since then
-more and more features have been added to LameXP. The program even went through two complete re-writes. Thus
-the name "LameXP" may not be the most meaningful one, especially because the program supports a huge number
-of encoders and decoders now, but I'm obviosuly lacking the creativity to come up with a better name. Also I
-think we already have enough doubious "super-duper everything to everything converter" programs out there...
-
-So to make a long story short: The name has historical reasons and probably isn't going to change ;-)

- -

- -Why are the LameXP binaries not digitally signed (seemingly)?
-
-The official LameXP binaries *are* signed digitally, using GPG/GnuPG. They just are NOT signed in a way that
-Microsoft Windows recognizes. For this reason, Microsoft Windows may show a fat warning that the program is
-from an "unknown publisher", when trying to install or update LameXP. But you can ignore this warning safely!
-
-So why LameXP binaries are not digitally signed in the way Microsoft Windows recognizes? This is because
-Microsoft Windows uses a *hierarchical* trust model: Windows trusts into a number of Certificate Authorities
-(CA's). These CA's issue certificates to, e.g., software developers. Finally, the software developer can use
-his certificate to create digital signatures. Windows will then verify the software signatures by using the
-corresponding certificate. The certificate, in turn, will be verified by checking the CA's digital signature.
-
-Unfortunately, this process is fundamentally flawed, because it totally depends on the CA's trustworthiness!
-But, as everybody should know by now, CA's can *not* be trusted at all! That is because intelligence services
-and other governmental organisations can force CA's to issue "bogus" certificates! Windows would then accept
-these "bogus" certificates and all software signed by it. In other words: The software will appear to have a
-valid signature create by the legitimate owner of the certificate - despite it was signed by sombody else!
-
-So what can we do? We can use GPG/GnuPG, which is *not* flawed in this way! GPG/GnuPG uses a so-called "web
-of trust". This means that you *only* trust into keys that you have either verified yourself or that someone,
-whom you trust already, has verified. Most important, in GPG/GnuPG it's always YOU who decides whom you want
-to trust or not. There is *no* centralized "authority" required or used. Consequently, intelligence services
-and other governmental organisations will *not* be able to create "bogus" GPG/GnuPG keys, unless they can
-break the cryptographic algorithms (DSA, RSA, etc. pp). But in the latter case, we would be doomed anyway ;-)
-
-LameXP only trusts into a signle public key, which is the public key of the LameXP developers. This key is
-built into any LameXP binary. LameXP will use that key to verify the signatures of any updates (downloads)
-prior to installing them on the computer. Thus, once you have a genuine copy of LameXP installed, you can be
-sure that only genuine updates of LameXP will be downloaded/installed by the LameXP auto-update utility.
-
-
-Addendum #1:
-
-Another important fact to understand is that digital signatures do *not* provide any information about the
-security or dependability of a software. If a program contains a valid digital signature, it can be verified
-that this program really originates from the person/organization who has signed the binary. But that's it!
-There can be bugs and security vulnerabilities in a signed piece of software, just like in any unsigned piece
-of software. There even is nothing that would prevent an attacker from digitally signing malware programs!
-Though, the certificate (public key) of a malware author would hopefully(!) be revoked sooner or later.
-
-
-Addendum #2:
-
-In theory it would be possibe to add a digital signature that Windows recognizes to LameXP, just to get rid
-of the warning message. However, this would require a code signing certificate from one of the CA's that
-Windows accepts. But CA's don't issue certificates for free! They sell at approx. 150€ per year. But, because
-LameXP is a non-profit OpenSource project, the developers can NOT afford buying a code signing certificate.
-
-If anybody is willing to contribute a code signing certificate to the LameXP project, please contact us! ;-)
-
-
-The finperprint of the LameXP GPG/GnuPG signing key:
-3265784425BF2B394F67CE07106A413D6CF3FA22
-
-The complete LameXP GPG/GnuPG public signing key:
-
-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
-Version: GnuPG v2.0.21 (MingW32)
-
-mQGiBEp0LDgRBACbZhtVHbb4tWlJCCxQ3eH9TQ3zUYrI2UHN94Yk8MJGEO1Fxigg
-smUAeGRmHKpH24VCB/MaHef83fd3bu2yHSf8xgWe90hZR1pLLfmtxqN1SZu/YlJx
-y4LOcxEwSc3P09cDL112fEFKs36d7OPYR6DXk75hWRwsnd0snJEnDHMVKwCgqCsn
-9y5rxTeH32sNytkdMMijkD0D/RrNZiCr/uQcT695oLsYkemNQzbN+hd5bmkkXnRi
-H27kHeeY1G1zLLFfTk7yKm7UZrTpMYxCXS80ORs9RF9rL8bnzzSiBAIHEz4uc5SD
-oH7K3Y526SZ4m4GOLnlVTisd9FXpm0YHB/MXMRrNLZbSzveS3pOEmRny0yeI13cU
-y8tqA/4xjW2DPlwB7lIUOcPyXa9pmAkLApCYF4CwUwKw4df6s+4txWkvuD0cJlli
-nPK7B7SrMv5c2Eg2UQWpF0WN+s8IqX3eoJ1CI+oBVZVWZMhC+Vojz8K0tIkHWZh7
-sy/gUk6XApTN8Ce/xbuMgDhfqxUXzkGzpvR9FJ0Y0R7kNgReUbQzTG9SZF9NdWxk
-ZVIgKGh0dHA6Ly9tdWxkZXIuYXQuZ2cvKSA8bXVsZGVyMkBnbXguZGU+iGAEExEC
-ACAFAkp0LDgCGwMGCwkIBwMCBBUCCAMEFgIDAQIeAQIXgAAKCRAQakE9bPP6IqKr
-AJ4541p84C0jD/MdL1akNsUtAQOBrwCcDAumPHDCj7wfmmeY/KN+jOmrp8G5BA0E
-SnQsOBAQAIy8TJYBYPxVtq8ENPs5qpLv+g3RRc/0TLaimaZGGdbsvANCswgNlxrK
-spAb2IFC8Y85jl7PusdXhC89q1gP5cfb6WLzFggRZt6UEE3dJ+aBuKSu+k+y1n/v
-R8oHpptIq3leonG5dXte5ZAYg+ID7DZz2QWgu4oWeDnUl945DLSCGj4vuT5sY/wi
-zNv6PV2E0Bl+HIwkzlwHa9vYRPx84FL9eFM7llJdH5TYQZ+VkdqKIfAUWwXsDeqD
-7YviIWLBbDxCtgfVB7sGYRZltMO9Nir7igO8SxOawkuBtLzU2ZbevBOSZmxami33
-E2oAGWtcXGhKHMy7vPOQKfShcf2N0QMhNDSR54nxuu3/BW9diwYubJCkbkP/gv7g
-GU/0eVWp19LeQN92zcmRN0JcJtu71T6Pcel9ZttEy/xyNyOrqhMP7vDd2sExwsYZ
-VUqlOg7hA++TMCmNcxLQgWlb7tJxhNr4pBkJiX6Guu8/3fhQ0If99ZlpeCpmMJFN
-kvhgFMWtCVPk5u1i/lwXsSoRcRXIfbRAcBqVEe5mgcyBBQZCoK2kQ8qt7Zol6/Lu
-9GsY/ag4elArck1EtlK0fxpVUsEskTR2Yw7hY/upPGfI22Wzzfg6WlwaYysyONfF
-ecoKS+ZaXVQ9BDAtRDKSD2yXkYDngJLDcbOTOPLxfDP/dKthqzkXAAMFD/0W/s64
-tsIju1IGE8uQt1fIZECV8M8HJeVatNEVJyPDrS/WIO0vqedxhod6qpF1UwPBG1gw
-WKe7nPhFoBzDayK92umEXUng0nQYmFUJWk7PXI751R1VFVgrbVw+LM2zy0/WRClh
-2qUWv+q6JuK56NooPx3sgAE4uuGoiRi8qt8eNuu6FP90LUKo0t9mMEyVAHJdQbcm
-tMFFU5K3+UehVYgosfplmLt5wpAs5GjqQSmeXA1DhvXNlPBBVn/tTSqGTw5+boqv
-lfwHgLJOqae3GH+HZ1ega2/qb5PFVZRpV9PrRh38IRe0ZM0Y0yQtlhUPywksD8UM
-KttadTHcBW4O/EZCEAOg69fc52mDs5GykJoXCOLsEc3/x2YJk8hvID3gR+qX/wxX
-WDTVY0KL1IC+xo4Y3BxKXHd8EPhOyR52mHm6BvVE/bbMeQjTF0pPjqIL1iM23crA
-Z9oYAtzYTOYyjtzx7SzY0SU+0jB7k7akr70vlbNR+Hk5iAR43MFoE5LyQpsmaUob
-W8WwGwTUabrs0KXXNC6OotfZqylL+cgn+STDdmGLiW0rw7Yv6CxR+ZW77yiWHYam
-TXY0hzq4U/9NnWwgCJErG5qausG8YidfDHenKIwZfc36d/bm6FSv5XGxShM7J4aO
-uhZnmF9iIfovqAe60soJ+uH6UOnxEB6LHZNhiohJBBgRAgAJBQJKdCw4AhsMAAoJ
-EBBqQT1s8/oi0RsAniNAOQRb8roflIOXVmeW3uB50RVtAJwLS5O19VD1W0HxjNZ6
-sE7XdEZn+w==
-=WDwE
------END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

- -

- -MP3, AAC/MP4, Vorbis, FLAC or Opus - What is the best audio format?
-
-This question can NOT be answered in general. The best audio format is the format that works best for you!
-
-Having said that, let's have a look at the output formats supported by LameXP: MPEG-1 Audio Layer III, better
-known as "MP3", was released in 1993 and probably still is the most widely used and most widely supported
-compressed audio format. So if compatibility is your concern, MP3 is a good choice. Also MP3 can retain very
-good quality - at higher bitrates. However MP3 does not support multi-channel audio and it does not perform
-well at lower bitrates. MP3 also is pretty restrictive with the sampling rates and bitrates that it supports.
-
-Advanced Audio Coding, often abbreviated as "AAC", was introduced as part of the MPEG-2 standard (1997) and
-has been adopted by the MPEG-4 standard later (1999). AAC is often considered to be the "successor" of MP3.
-Compared to MP3, AAC adds support for multi-channel audio, it support more sampling rates as well as more
-flexible bitrates. Two variants of AAC are commonly used: Low-Complexity (LC) and High-Efficiency (HE). While
-LC-AAC is intended for medium to high bitrates, HE-AAC works best at low bitrates. At low bitrates, HE-AAC
-clearly outperforms MP3 - at higher bitrates the differences aren't that clear. AAC streams are usually, but
-not necessarily, encapsulated in an MP4 (MPEG-4 Part 14) container. That's why AAC audio files almost always
-have an ".mp4" file extension. Still the audio format is AAC - MP4 is only the container! Be aware that some
-applications create audio-only MP4 files with a non-standard (wrong) ".m4a" file extension. AAC is widely
-supported too nowadays (especially in "mobile" devices), though not all players fully support the HE variant.
-
-Vorbis, often called "Ogg Vorbis", is a free audio format, developed by the Xiph foundation and released in
-2000. In contrast to MP3/AAC, Vorbis is 100% patent-free. Vorbis streams are usually, but not necessarily,
-encapsulated in an Ogg container (developed by Xiph too) and thus Vorbis files almost always have an ".ogg"
-file extension. Vorbis is known to outperform MP3 at the same bitrate, although the differences are less
-apparent at high bitrates. Furthermore HE-AAC has been known to outperform Vorbis at lower bitrates, though
-there now is a tuned Vorbis encoder ("aoTuV") which further improves the quality of Vorbis - especially at
-the lower bitrates. Hardware support for Ogg Vorbis is worse than for MP3/AAC, but it's constantly improving.
-
-Free Lossless Audio Codec, better known as "FLAC", is a lossless audio format. This means that in contrast to
-MP3, AAC and Vorbis, with the FLAC compression there is absolutely no loss in quality. This made FLAC famous
-among "audiophile" people. However the lossless nature of FLAC comes at a big disadvantage: The compression
-ratio of FLAC files isn't anywhere near the "lossy" audio formats. Or in other words: FLAC files are huge!
-They are not as big as uncompressed Wave files, but usually the size cannot be reduced to less than 75%. Just
-like Ogg Vorbis, hardware support for FLAC files is worse than for MP3/AAC, but it's constantly improving.
-
-Opus is a new audio format which, at this time (Aug 2012), is still under active development. It is being
-developed by engineers from Xiph, Mozilla and Skype/Microsoft. Opus has been accepted as an upcoming Internet
-standard by the IETF recently. The Opus format is designed to work for low-latency speech encoding (VoIP) as
-well as for high-quality music encoding. Opus is sometimes referred to as the "successor" of both, Vorbis and
-Speex (the latter is Xiph's current speech codec). Currently, Opus reaches the quality of 128 kbps MP3 at an
-bitrate of 80 kbps. As the development is still in progress, significant improvements are to be expected.
- -
-
-Another resource you might find interesting are Sebastian's Public Listening Tests:
-(However be aware that some of the results from these listening tests are not up-to-date anymore)

- -

- -What is the difference between the CBR, VBR and ABR rate control modes?
-
-CBR means "constant bitrate" and, as the name implies, CBR mode allocates the bits at a constant rate. This
-means that each part of the audio will get the same amount of bits, regardless of its content. Obviously this
-will waste bits in parts of the audio that are "easy" to compress. At the same time the quality of parts of
-the audio that are "hard" to compress will be degraded. Consequently using CBR mode is NOT a very good idea,
-unless you really have to enforce a 100% constant bitrate (this is almost NEVER the case). However CBR mode
-has the advantage that the final size of the compressed file is perfectly predictable. The resulting file
-size is defined simply as "duration × fixed_bitrate". Note: The file size *is* predictable with ABR mode too!
-
-VBR means "variable bitrate" and, in contrast to CBR mode, VBR mode allows the bitrate to vary/fluctuate.
-Thus the VBR mode enables the encoder to adapt the bitrate with respect to the content of the audio. Parts of
-the audio that are "easy" to compress will get a lower bitrate in order to avoid wasting bits there. At the
-same time, parts of the audio that are "hard" to compress will get a higher bitrate in order to avoid quality
-degradation. Or in other words: VBR mode "moves" the bits to the locations where they are actually needed!
-Therefore the VBR mode achieves a much better compression efficiency than the CBR mode. This means with VBR
-mode you can get a better quality at the same file size - or the same quality at a smaller file size. One
-disadvantage of the VBR mode, however, is that the final size of the compressed file can NOT be predicted.
-The resulting file size now is defined as "duration × average_bitrate", but the average bitrate is NOT
-known beforehand. That's because the average bitrate for a specific VBR quality level can vary greatly,
-depending solely on the complexity of the individual audio. With VBR mode the encoder uses as many bits as
-required to achieve the desired level of quality. That clearly makes VBR the preferred encoding mode.
-
-ABR means "average bitrate". You can think of ABR mode as a compromise between the CBR and VBR mode. With ABR
-mode the bitrate is allowed to vary/fluctuate, similar to VBR mode. However the ABR mode doesn't work with a
-predefined/fixed quality level, as VBR mode does. Instead in ABR mode the encoder will continuously re-adjust
-the quality level in order to hit the target average(!) bitrate. You can also think of ABR mode as a mode
-that pre-allocates the bits in a CBR-like fashion and then redistributes the bits within a local neighborhood
-as needed. Thus the ABR mode combines advantages of CBR mode (predictability) and VBR mode (higher quality).
-The final size of the encoded file is still defined as "duration × average_bitrate", but with ABR mode the
-average bitrate *is* known beforehand. So if you need to hit a specific file size, ABR mode is the solution.
-Using ABR mode is to be preferred over CBR mode. Nonetheless VBR mode usually provides the best experience.
-
-
-Hint: The Nero AAC encoder supports a variant of the ABR mode, the so-called "2-Pass" mode. That mode scans
-through the entire file once (first pass) before the actual encoding is performed (second pass). This way the
-encoder is able to distribute the bits over the entire file and still hit the desired target average bitrate.
-It should be obvious that the advantages of the "2-Pass" mode come at the cost of increased encoding time.
-
-Hint: A common mistake done by people comparing rate control modes is choosing a bitrate that is too high. Of
-course only files of an identical (average) bitrate can be compared by quality. But if that bitrate is chosen
-too high, you won't be able to draw any conclusions from the test. That's because at a certain bitrate even
-the CBR mode will retain excellent quality. In that situation VBR mode or ABR mode can't give an even better
-quality for obvious reasons. But drawing the conclusion that there is no difference between CBR mode and the
-VBR/ABR modes would be very wrong! The differences will become significant when using a reasonable bitrate.
-Another mistake is starting with a low-quality source file and concluding that all modes perform equally bad.
-
-
-SUMMARY ON RATE CONTROL MODES:
- -

- -How do I enable AAC/MP4/M4A output (encoding) in LameXP?
-
-LameXP uses the Nero AAC Encoder for creating AAC/MP4/M4A files. The Nero AAC Encoder is available as a free
-download. However the license doesn't allow redistribution! Therefore we can NOT ship the Nero encoder along
-with LameXP. Instead you will have to obtain the Nero encoder as a separate download from the official "Nero
-Digital" web-site. Currently you'll find the latest Nero AAC Encoder version at this location:
-
-After you have downloaded the Nero AAC Encoder as a ZIP file, you must "install" the encoder binaries, so
-LameXP can use them. Simply unzip the files 'neroAacEnc.exe', 'neroAacDec.exe' as well as 'neroAacTag.exe' to
-the same directory where your LameXP executable ('LameXP.exe') is located. For unzipping the ZIP file you can
-use any suitable archiver, such as WinRAR or 7-Zip. Once the required Nero encoder binaries are located in
-the LameXP directory, the AAC encoding option should be "enabled" on the next startup of LameXP.
-
-
-QAAC Encoder
-
-Optionally LameXP supports the QAAC encoder, i.e. the AAC encoder used by QuickTime and iTunes. Just like the
-Nero AAC encoder, the QAAC encoder can NOT be redistributed along with LameXP. Thus if you want to use the
-QAAC encoder, then you have to install QuickTime v7.7.1 (or newer). Alternatively iTunes v10.5 (or newer) can
-be installed. Both, QuickTime and iTunes, can be downloaded for free from the official Apple web-site.
-
-In order to enable the QAAC Encoder support you will also need the 'QAAC Encoder Add-in' for LameXP:
-
-Please follow the install instructions that are included with the 'QAAC Encoder Add-in' download package!
-Note that you do NOT need to install this Add-in, if you only want to use the Nero AAC Encoder.
-
-
-FHG AAC Encoder
-
-Optionally LameXP also supports the FHG AAC Encoder now. Just like the Nero encoder, the FHG encoder can NOT
-be redistributed along with LameXP. However the FHG AAC Encoder is included with Winamp (v5.62+), which is
-available as a free download (you don't need to buy the "Pro" version!) from the official Winamp web-site at:
-
-In order to enable the FHG AAC Encoder support you will also need the 'FHG AAC Encoder Add-in' for LameXP:
-
-Please follow the install instructions that are included with the 'FHG AAC Encoder Add-in' download package!
-Note that you do NOT need to install this Add-in, if you only want to use the Nero AAC Encoder.

- -

- -Is there a way to output ".m4a" or ".aac" files with LameXP?
-
-LameXP uses the Nero AAC Encoder for AAC encoding. And the Nero encoder always puts the AAC streams into an
-MP4 (MPEG-4 Part 14) container - in almost any case that is exactly what you want/need! The one and only
-"correct" file extension for MP4 files is '.mp4'. However sometimes the "incorrect" file extension '.m4a' is
-used to indicate "audio-only" MP4 files. Even worse: There are some buggy (hardware) players that will
-recognize MP4 audio file only with the "incorrect" .m4a extension, but NOT with the "correct" .mp4 extension.
-Of course LameXP will save your MP4 files with the "correct" .mp4 extension. But if you need your MP4 files
-with an .m4a extension for some reason, you can simply rename(!) these files. Renaming isn't more or less
-"incorrect" than saving the files as .m4a directly. After all, an MP4 file remains an MP4 file.
-
-Warning: While renaming .mp4 files to .m4a (or vice versa) is safe, because both file extensions refer to MP4
-files, you must NOT rename any .mp4/.m4a files to .aac (or the other way around). That's because the '.aac'
-extension is used with "raw" AAC streams (ADTS format), i.e. AAC streams that are explicitly NOT stored in an
-MP4 container! Unfortunately the Nero AAC encoder has NO option to output "raw" AAC streams. And usually you
-don't need such streams. Still, if you really need to extract the "raw" AAC stream (.aac) from an MP4 file,
-you can simply use MP4Box for that purpose. Please note that YAMB is a great MP4Box GUI created by Kurtnoise.

- -

- -How do I enable WMA input (decoding) in LameXP?
-
-LameXP now uses its "built-in" WMA decoder, thanks to 'wma2wav'. However it has to be noted that the WMA
-decoder relies on the Windows Media Format Runtime. All supported versions of Microsoft Windows should have
-the Windows Media Format Runtime installed as part of the Windows Media Player. But Wine does not! In case
-you encounter problems with the WMA decoder, try installing the Windows Media Format Runtime manually. This
-should also work under Wine. The 'N' or 'KN' editions of Windows 7 need the Windows Media Feature Pack.

- -

- -How can I use LameXP as a "portable" application?
-
-LameXP always is "portable", in the sense that the application works out of the box: LameXP does NOT require
-any additional software, such as codecs, encoders, decoders or runtime libraries, and it will NOT install
-anything of that kind on your local computer! All the third-party tools used by LameXP are already built-in.
-There currently are two notable exceptions: The Nero AAC encoder and the WMA decoder cannot be redistributed
-along with LameXP for legal reasons. Therefore these tools have to be obtained as separate downloads.
-
-Having said that, LameXP stores its configuration file in the %LOCALAPPDATA% folder on the local computer.
-That's because on a modern multi-user operating this is the only "correct" folder to store user-specific
-configuration files. Also it's one of the few folders where an application is guaranteed to get write-access,
-even when the application was launched by a "normal" (non-admin) user and did not request elevated rights.
-Storing the configuration file in the "install" folder is antiquated and highly error-prone.
-
-Still some users may want to store the configuration file in the same folder as the LameXP executable file,
-e.g. when launching LameXP directly from their USB stick on different computers. For this purpose LameXP now
-offers a "true" portable mode. You can enable that mode simply by renaming the LameXP executable file to
-"LameXP-Portable.exe". But be aware: When running LameXP in the "portable" mode, the user(!) must ensure that
-write-access is granted to the directory where the LameXP executable is located.

- -

- -Is there a way to use custom tools (binaries) with LameXP instead of the "built-in" ones?
-
-LameXP uses a number third-party tools. All of these tools are already "built-in" (with a few exceptions) and
-thus it is NOT required to provide separate binaries. Usually it will NOT be necessary to replace any of
-the "built-in" tools with a custom (user-provided) binary. If, however, you need to replace/update/downgrade
-one of the binaries for a good reason, the recommended method is re-building LameXP from the sources. If you
-don't know how to build LameXP from the sources, then you probably shouldn't be trying to replace the binary.
-
-Having said that, there now is a more convenient method for using a custom tool version (binary) instead of
-the "built-in" one. This method works WITHOUT re-building LameXP. However note that the following is intended
-for testing and debugging purposes only! Also note that LameXP was specifically designed to work with the
-"built-in" versions of the tools. It may not work properly or may not work at all with custom tool versions!
-
-In order to replace a "built-in" binary, simply put the user-provided binary to the following location: -
<install_folder>\tools\<build_number>\<tool_name>.exe
-If, for example, you want to replace 'lame.exe' in Build #666 of LameXP, you would put it to the this path: -
C:\Path to your LameXP install folder\tools\666\lame.exe
-(It is intended that the '<build_number>' part of the path has to be adjusted with every update of LameXP)

- -

- -The LameXP startup (splash screen) takes very long on my system. What can I do?
-
-During the startup procedure, LameXP has to extract some "helper" files to the TEMP directory. This can take
-a few moments. However, this extraction process shouldn't take longer than approximately 10 seconds. On our
-test system (Windows 7 running on an old Core2 Q6600 with 4 GB of RAM) starting up LameXP takes ~1.7 seconds.
-
-Unfortunately, it was brought to our attention that poorly optimized anti-virus software might slow down the
-startup procedure a lot! As mentioned above, on our test system, the startup procedure takes 1.7 seconds. And
-that is with the "real-time protection" of Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) enabled! Without the real-time
-scanner, the startup time reduces even further, to less than 0.2 seconds. At the same time, as users have
-reported to us, some other anti-virus software can increase the startup delay by as much as 20.0 seconds !!!
-
-So if you think that LameXP is starting up too slow on your system, you should temporarily(!) disable or
-uninstall the "real-time scanner" or "guard" (or whatever it is called) of your current "anti-virus" software
-and then try again. If it turns out that the startup of LameXP becomes significantly(!) faster as soon as the
-anti-virus software does *not* interfere with the extraction process, then please report the problem to the
-developer of the anti-virus software. And, if they don't fix the problem, switch to a better product ;-)
-
-In short: If LameXP takes very long for starting up, then most likely poor "anti-virus" software is to balme.

- -

- -Why is there a time limit (expiration) in my version of LameXP?
-
-LameXP is free software, released under the GPL. This means that you may use LameXP for free and without any
-restrictions. More specifically, there is NO time limit (expiration) in any "Release" versions of LameXP!
-Nonetheless, the "Beta" (pre-release) versions of LameXP will expire 30 days after build date. That's because
-these "Beta" versions are intended for testing and evaluation only. They are NOT intended for productive use.
-After the 30 days have expired, you will have to update your "Beta" version of LameXP to the latest version.
-Usually there will be frequent updates for "Beta" versions though. So, most of the time, a new update will be
-available even before the previous build has expired. We highly recommend to install all updates as soon as
-possible instead of waiting for the expiration. If you are NOT willing to update LameXP regularly, stick with
-the "Release" version. The "Release" versions of LameXP are updated less frequently and they won't expire.
-
-Note: We are well aware that the expiration mechanism implemented in LameXP can be circumvented quite easily,
-if you really want to. But implementing a "better" mechanism is pointless for an OpenSource software ;-)

- -

- -Is there a way to hide/show the LameXP console ("DOS Box") window?
-
-It is common for many people to run an alleged "DOS" program inside Windows, using a so-called "DOS Box".
-Everything works fine. But when you try to run such a program in DOS, you get an ugly message "This program
-cannot be run in DOS mode". What's wrong? Well, the affected program is NOT a "DOS" one. It is a Windows
-Console program. "DOS" is NOT a synonym of Console. And "Windows" is NOT a synonym of GUI (Graphical User
-Interface). Both, DOS and Windows programs, can be either Console or GUI. Actually Windows programs can be
-Console *and* GUI at the same time, i.e. a Windows GUI program can have a Console attached.
-
-LameXP is a GUI program for Windows. However it can have a "Debug" console attached. The purpose of this
-console is providing users an insight into what's happening behind the scenes. While the console is mainly
-intended for developers, it may be helpful for "regular" users too. Nonetheless you usually will NOT need the
-console, unless something is going wrong. Therefore the LameXP console is disabled by default in all
-"release" builds. You can enable the console by passing the "--console" command-line parameter, if required.
-At the same time the console is enabled by default in all "beta" (pre-release) builds of LameXP. You can
-still disable the console by passing the "--no-console" command-line parameter, if you don't like it.
-
-WARNING: Any attempt to close the LameXP console window will kill the application immediately !!!

- -

- -How can I change the font size in the LameXP window?
-
-Sometimes it may be required to adjust the font size, e.g. when working on a "high DPI" screen. The best way
-to adjust the font size is tweaking the DPI settings of your system. On modern Windows operating systems,
-this option can be found at the "Display" options at the Control Panel. Simply select, e.g., "Medium" (125%)
-or "Larger" (150%) to increase the size of all GUI widgets, including larger fonts. LameXP is based on Qt and
-therefore is fully "DPI aware". This means it will respect the system's DPI settings - without(!) blurring.
-
-In rare cases you may which to adjust the font-size only inside the LameXP window, but *not* effect any other
-applications. For this particular purpose, LameXP offers the following command-line options:
-
- - - - -
--tiny-font  Enforces very small font size (75%)
--small-font Enforces smaller font size (87.5%)
--big-font  Enforces larger font size (125%)
--huge-font  Enforces very large font size (150%)
- -

- -Why does application 'xyz' not open the Wave files created by LameXP?
-
-Some of the decoders used in LameXP will insert an additional 'JUNK' chunk into the Wave/RIFF file, right
-before the 'fmt' chunk ("Wave header"). There are technical reasons why this 'JUNK' chunk (placeholder) might
-be needed at the beginning of the file. The 'JUNK' type is a standard RIFF type and, by definition of the
-RIFF file format specification, any reading application must ignore/skip all 'JUNK' chunks it may encounter!
-Evidently most reading applications do so and thus will correctly open the Wave file. Unfortunately it was
-brought to our attention that there are a few broken(!) applications, which reject Wave/RIFF files with an
-additional 'JUNK' chunk in front of the 'fmt' chunk. It seems that these applications make false assumptions
-and expect the 'fmt' chunk to be located at a fixed position, rather than parsing the RIFF structure.
-
-While it is evident that applications, which reject the Wave/RIFF file because of the extra 'JUNK' chunk, are
-broken with respect to the RIFF specification and should be fixed by the respective author, there is an easy
-workaround: Re-saving the Wave/RIFF file with SoX creates a file that even the broken applications seem to
-accept, as SoX apparently doesn't insert any 'JUNK' chunks (although it would be free to do so!) Re-saving
-your Wave file with SoX does NOT change the actual content at all, as long as no additional filters are used.
-
-You can use a command-line like this:
-
sox.exe "c:\some path\input.wav" "c:\some path\output.wav"
- -

- -Why does LameXP run (only) N instances/threads in parallel on my computer?
-
-LameXP is able to run multiple instances of the encoder or decoder in parallel. This is done in order to
-maximize the CPU utilization on modern "multi-core" processors, which will significantly speed up the overall
-encoding process. However be aware that LameXP uses file-based parallelization. This means that the maximum
-number of instances that can run in parallel is limited by the number of files that are processed. If, for
-example, you convert only a single file, then NO parallelization will be possible. If, instead, you convert
-multiple files at once, then LameXP can run as many instances in parallel as files are being converted.
-
-Within the aforementioned limitations, LameXP will selected the number of parallel instances based on the
-number of available processors (CPU cores) on the individual system. However LameXP will NOT use a one-to-one
-mapping! Instead a custom-made 'cubic spline' function is used to map the number of CPU cores to the maximum
-number of instances. This function has the following properties: On systems with at most four CPU cores, the
-maximum number of parallel instances will be identical to the number of CPU cores. On systems with eight CPU
-cores, the maximum number of parallel instances is six. On systems with 16 cores, the maximum number of
-parallel instances is eight. On systems with 32 cores, the maximum number of parallel instances is eleven.
-And on systems with 64 cores, the maximum number of parallel instances is 16. 16 is the upper limit.
-
-thumb
-
-You may wonder why LameXP doesn't always create one instance for each CPU core. In theory, the more instances
-we run in parallel, the more CPU cores can be utilized - until all CPU cores are busy and the overall CPU
-usage approaches 100%. In reality, however, there are some "shared" resources on each computer. And, the more
-instances we run in parallel, the more processes will be competing for these shared resources! Specifically,
-the amount of main memory (RAM) is limited. Creating a huge number of instances in parallel can easily use up
-all RAM, which will then cause the operating system to make heavy use of the page file. This can result in
-HDD thrashing and hence may significantly hurt the overall performance! But even in case there is enough RAM
-available on the system, each encoder or decoder instance needs to access the HDD quite frequently, e.g. for
-reading from the input file and for writing to the output file. Thus running too many instances will generate
-more I/O operations than the HDD can handle, which will result in an I/O bottleneck. In this situation the
-processes will spend more and more time waiting for I/O operations to finish - rather then doing useful work.
-
-In other words: There will always be some point at which creating even more instances will actually slow down
-the overall process! On systems with many CPU cores, this point might be reached BEFORE all cores are busy.
-Even on the Quadcore computer, which is used to develop/test LameXP and which runs "only" four instances in
-parallel, we sporadically notice significant drops of the CPU usage, obviously caused by HDD overstressing.
-If, however, you think that LameXP's choice of the number of parallel instances is too conservative, you may
-overwrite the number of parallel instances on the "Advanced Options" tab - the upper limit is 16 for now.
-Finally, note that LameXP only controls the number of instances that will run in parallel, but it does NOT
-control how many threads an individual instance will create! Some encoders use "built-in" multi-threading and
-thus a single encoder instance may create several threads - LameXP has no control over that.

- -

- -Why does LameXP try to connect to the web-server at 'xyz.com' secretly?
-
-LameXP does NOT connect to any web-server secretly! Of course the 'Auto Update' feature of LameXP unavoidably
-has to connect to one of our update servers. However in no event LameXP will search for updates without your
-agreement. Also LameXP will NOT send any personal information to the update server. It won't even send your
-program version to the server. Instead the latest version number will be downloaded from the server first and
-will then be compared to your current version number on the local computer. Moreover all information obtained
-from the update server are protected with a digital signature (GnuPG) in order to prevent spoofing attacks.
-
-Note: As LameXP is a non-profit project, we cannot afford a huge server infrastructure. Therefore the update
-server may be overstrained or unavailable once in a while. As we need to be able to distinguish the case in
-which our server is failing from the case in which your local internet connection has a problem, LameXP will
-run a short connectivity test on your local system first. For this purpose LameXP contains a list of 64 known
-hosts, taken (mostly) from the well-known Alexa 'top 500 sites on the web' listing. LameXP will assume that
-your internet connection is working properly if a certain minimum number (currently four) of the known hosts
-is reachable. That's also the reason why you may notice LameXP is trying to connect to a "random" web-site.

- -

- -How can I force LameXP to create ID3 version 2 (ID3v2) tags?
-
-The LAME encoder automatically chooses the proper ID3 tag version. By default it will create a version 1 tag,
-if possible. Only if the information cannot be embedded into a version 1 tag (ID3v1), e.g. because the string
-is too long or the string contains Unicode characters, a version 2 tag (ID3v2) will be added. This behavior
-is advisable, because devices that support ID3v2 tags should also be able to read ID3v1 tags - but this
-doesn't apply the other way around! Moreover embedding an ID3v1 and an ID3v2 tag at the same time, although
-the information would have fit into a single ID3v1 tag, means an unnecessary redundancy!
-
-If, however, you need to enforce the creation of an ID3v2 tag for some reason, you can use the "--add-id3v2"
-parameter for that purpose. Simply add the parameter to the "Custom Encoder Parameters" for LAME.
-
-That's what the LAME help says about ID3 tags:
-
A version 2 tag will NOT be added unless one of the input fields
-won't fit in a version 1 tag (e.g. the title string is longer than 30
-characters), or the '--add-id3v2' or '--id3v2-only' options are used,
-or output is redirected to stdout.
- -

- -What does the LAME algorithm quality option do exactly?
-
-The sound quality of MP3 files is influenced primarily by the chosen bitrate (ABR/CBR mode) or by the chosen
-VBR quality level. These options control the "file size -vs- quality" trade-off. That means, you can get a
-better quality at the cost of a bigger file (increased bitrate); or you can get a smaller file at the cost of
-reduced sound quality (decreased bitrate). The "algorithm quality" is yet another way to control the quality.
-
-While the chosen bitrate (or VBR level) influences the resulting file size, the algorithm quality does not!
-Instead, the algorithm quality controls the "encoding speed -vs- quality" trade-off. That means, you can get
-a better sound quality at the cost of increased encoding time (higher algorithm quality); or you can get a
-faster encoding speed at the cost of reduced sound quality (lower algorithm quality). Note that while the
-algorithm quality does influence the encoding speed, it does NOT influence the decoding speed at all. Also
-note, again, that the chosen algorithm quality does NOT influence the resulting file's bitrate at all.
-
-The LAME algorithm quality is an integral value in the '0' and '9' range, where '0' gives the best quality
-(slowest encoding) and '9' gives the fastest encoding speed (worst quality). Note, however, that only the CBR
-and ABR modes use all possible values. The (new) VBR mode has only three distinct quality levels: '0' to '4',
-'5' to '6' and '7' to '9'. For example, in VBR mode, all values in the '0' to '4' range are mapped to '0'.
-
-The "algorithm quality" options available in LameXP will be mapped to '7', '5', '2' and '0', respectively.
-Note that '0' (best quality) is only slightly better than '2' (high quality), but substantially slower!
-
-
-The following tables contain some details about the LAME algorithm quality modes:
-
-For CBR and ARB modes: -For (new) VBR mode only: -Note that the LAME switches "-h" and "-f" are simply aliases for mode '2' and '7', respectively!

- -

- -Can LameXP be used to convert/extract tracks from an Audio CD?
-
-LameXP can be used to convert audio files that have been extracted from an Audio CD, but it can NOT extract
-or read the audio tracks from the Audio CD directly (yet). Consequently you will have to extract ("rip") the
-audio tracks first, before you can convert them with LameXP. We recommend using the Exact Audio Copy software
-for that purpose. When ripping tracks from an Audio CD you should always save the tracks as uncompressed Wave
-files or as lossless FLAC files! This will avoid a quality loss during the extraction/ripping process.
-
-Warning: The Windows operating system will show CDA files (such as "Track01.cda") on an Audio CD. These are
-dummy/fake files! Actually an Audio CD does NOT contain a file system and thus there are NO files. There only
-are audio tracks on an Audio CD. These audio tracks can be extracted as files (e.g. Wave Audio files) using a
-ripping software and then the extracted files can be converted. At the same time any attempt to copy/convert
-the '.cda' files directly is destined to fail (as the '.cda' files do NOT actually contain any audio data).

- -

- -Why is the maximum normalization level limited to -0.5 dB?
-
-When an analogue [audio] signal is converted to the digital domain, the signal is sampled at a fixed rate
-(e.g. 44100 samples per second) and each "sample" value is stored with a fixed number of bits (e.g. 16 or 24
-bits per sample). Consequently [uncompressed] digital audio is represented as a sequence of binary sample
-values. The range of possible sample values is determined by the word size ("bits per sample"). For example
-with a word size of 16 bit, the minimum value is −32768 and the maximum value is 32767 - assuming the values
-are signed. The range of the sample values corresponds to the voltage range of the electrical input signal.
-The maximum digital sample value (i.e. 32767 at 16-Bit) often is referred to as 0dBFS (0dB "full scale").
-
-Performing a Normalization in the digital domain seems straightforward: We simply multiply all sample values
-with the same factor. And we choose this factor in such a way that the highest sample value(s) in the track
-will become exactly 0dBFS after the normalization has been performed. However one needs to be aware that when
-playing back the digital audio track, it needs to be converted back to an analogue signal. The D/A converter
-will convert each sample from its binary representation to the corresponding voltage. Then a "reconstruction"
-filter will be applied in order to recover a continuous signal from these individual voltages. And for the
-reconstructed analogue signal it is possible to have voltages that are higher than the highest digital sample
-in the audio track! This is illustrated in the following image (samples are represented as tiny squares):
-
-thumb
-
-Consequently normalizing the sample values to 0dBFS is NOT a very good idea, as this may very well result in
-a reconstructed analogue signal which exceeds(!) 0dBFS. And, as the analogue parts of the playback equipment
-generally are NOT prepared for +0dBFS voltages, this may cause problems, such as annoying distortions!
-
-The help document of a well-known audio editing software contains the following advice:
-
If you're planning to put normalized audio on CD, you might want to normalize the waveforms to
-no more than 96% [-0.36 dB] as some audio compact disc players have problems accurately reproducing
-bits that have been processed to 100% (maximum) amplitude [0dBFS].
-For details please refer to the following article:
- -

- -What do the different 'Equalization' modes do?
-
-The "equalization" modes control how the normalization filter will deal with multi-channel input files, i.e.
-everything that is not Mono. The "Peak Level" mode will normalize each channel according to its highest peak
-(maximum sample value). This means that channels with a lower maximum sample value will be amplified stronger
-than channels with a higher maximum sample value. Still all samples in a channel will be amplified by the
-same factor, so dynamic range compression is NOT done. The "RMS Level" mode works similar to the previous
-mode, but the channels are amplified according to their peak RMS level (maximum energy), instead of their
-maximum sample value. This may be used to correct stereo imbalance caused by an imperfect record turntable
-cartridge. Last but not least, the "None" mode will not euqalize the channels at all, i.e. all channles will
-by amplified by the same factor. In the last mode, the highest peak of all(!) channels is used as threshold.

- -

- -Why does my encoded file come out slightly longer than the original?
-
-Because of the way most (lossy) audio compressors work, a number of "silent" samples have to be prepended to
-the first input sample. Also a number of silent samples may be appended to the last input sample. Obviously
-these additional "padding" samples will make the encoded file longer than the original input. If the decoder
-does not compensate for the padding samples that have been added by the encoder, the padding samples at the
-beginning of the encoded file will cause a certain delay/shift, compared to the (uncompressed) original file.
-Another effect is that there will be a "gap" between the files, when playing multiple files in sequence.
-
-It has to be noted that the padding is an inherent property of the audio compressor that can not be avoided.
-But, as mentioned before, the padding samples can be removed by the decoder. In that case, the decoded output
-will have the exactly same length (in samples) as the original file. However this can only be done, if the
-decoder is able to determine the exact number of padding samples that had been added. While the Vorbis audio
-format stores the number of padding samples in the stream and thus any compliant decoder will remove them,
-the MP3 and AAC audio formats do NOT define an "official" way to store the the number of padding samples!
-
-Nonetheless, the LAME MP3 encoder, which is used by LameXP, uses its own "non-standard" way to indicate the
-exact number of padding samples. This is done by adding a so-called "LAME header" to the MP3 file. Hence MP3
-decoders, which recognize the LAME header, will be able to remove the padding samples. This feature often is
-referred to as "gapless" decoding/playback. The 'mpg123' decoder, which is used by LameXP, does support the
-gapless decoding. This means that if you encode MP3 files with LameXP/LAME, then gapless decoding will be
-possible. And if you decode these files with LameXP/mpg123 again, they will come out at the original length.
-
-Still you have to be aware that NOT all MP3 decoders support the LAME header. So if you encode MP3 files with
-LameXP and then decode them with an arbitrary MP3 decoder, they may come out at a "wrong" length. And there
-is absoloutely nothing that LameXP could do about that! Furthermore, if you decode a MP3 file in LameXP that
-has been created with some MP3 decoder which did not add a LAME header, then it is impossible to remove the
-padding samples. That's because in this situation there is NO way to know the number of padding samples!
-
-Some more info on this topic can be found here:
-

- -Why is the Hibernation option disabled (greyed out) on my system?
-
-In order to use "Hibernation", your system must support the S4 power saving mode (aka "Suspend-to-Disk") and
-the hibernation file ("hiberfil.sys") must be enabled. If these conditions are not met, then the Hibernation
-option will be disabled in LameXP, for obvious reasons. Note that on older versions of Windows you can enable
-or disable the hibernation file in the "Power Options" dialog of the Control Panel (see here). On Windows 7
-and probably also on Vista, you have to do this from the Windows command interpreter. First open an elevated
-command prompt by typing "cmd" in the Startmenu (not "Run" dialog!) and when "cmd.exe" appears as suggestion,
-then right-click on "cmd.exe" and choose "Run as administartor". After that you should see an "Administrator"
-command prompt window. Here you can type "powercfg -h on" (without the quotation marks!) and press Enter to
-enable the hibernation file. You can disable the hibernation file again by typing "powercfg -h off".
-
-Note: The size of "hiberfil.sys" is equal to your RAM size and it always is located on the system partition!

- -

- -Why do random files fail with "Not Found!" or "Failed!" status?
-
-If a file fails to convert with "Not Found!" or "Failed!" status, this usually has a reason! In that case you
-can double-click on the failed item in order to view the log. The log will give detailed information about
-the problem that has occured. In very rare cases, however, the following behavior has been observed by users:
-When converting multiple files, some of the failes seem to fail at random. When the same files are converted
-again later, some of the files that failed before will now succeed while some of the files that succeeded
-before will now fail. This behavior has been tracked down to faultily "anti-virus" software! So in case you
-encounter the described behavior and if you use some anti-virus software with "real-time scanner" or "guard"
-functionality, then try to uninstall (or at least disable) the anti-virus software. If that resolves the
-problem, then you know for sure that the anti-virus software was the cause of the problem. As the developers
-of LameXP can NOT fix or workaround problems induced by faultily "anti-virus" software, please report such
-problems to the developer (or support team) of your anti-virus software! Or switch to a better a/v product...

- -

- -Why is "Convert this file with LameXP" missing from the Explorer context menu somtimes?
-
-The entry "Convert this file with LameXP" will be available from the Windows Explorer context menu for all
-files supported by LameXP, if (and only if) the LameXP Shell-Integration is enbaleld. You can enable or
-disable the LameXP Shell-Integration at any time from the "Tools > Configuration" menu within LameXP at any
-time. However be aware that this option will NOT be available, if LameXP is running in portable mode. Also be
-aware that if you select multiple files in Explorer, the LameXP context menu entry will only appear, if ALL
-files in your selection are supported by LameXP. Last but not least, Windows will NOT show the LameXP context
-menu entry, if more than 15 files are selected. That is a limitation of Windows Explorer! It is "by design".
-
-See also:
-Context menus are shortened when more than 15 files are selected

- -

- -Why do I get the error 'Executable doesn't support Windows compatibility mode' on startup?
-
-LameXP was designed to run on all supported platforms natively (except for Linux/Wine). If you see this error
-message, that's probably because your system is configured to run LameXP in 'compatibility mode', i.e. your
-system will pretend an older OS version than is actually running. In Windows Explorer you can disable(!) the
-compatibility mode by right-clicking on the 'LameXP.exe' file, choosing 'Properties' from the context menu,
-switching to the 'Compatibility' tab and un-checking the 'Run this program in compatibility mode' option.

- -

- -Why do I get the error 'Executable requires Windows XP or later' on startup?
-Why do I get the error 'The procedure entry point <Something> could not be located' on startup?
-Why do I get the error 'LameXP.exe is not a valid Win32 application' on startup?
-
-You are trying to run LameXP on a platform that is NOT supported, such as Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows
-Millennium Edition, Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000. There is nothing you can do about that, except for
-updating to a less antiquated OS. Running an outdated and unsupported OS is a severe security risk anyway!
-
-Note: This error can also occur, if your system has been configured to run LameXP in compatibility mode.

- -

- -Why do I get the error 'A device attached to the system is not functioning' on startup?
-
-This error message from the Windows operating system is somewhat misleading. It often appears together with
-a second error message and it means that Windows was unable to load/execute the program file. There are
-various reasons why this error might occur, but usually it indicates that you are trying to run LameXP or the
-LameXP setup/update program on a platform that is NOT supported, such as Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows
-Millennium Edition, Windows NT 4.0. There is nothing you can do about that, except for updating to a less
-antiquated OS. Running an outdated and unsupported OS is a severe security risk anyway!

- -

- -Why do I get the error 'File ´tool_foobar.exe´ could not be locked!' on startup?
-
-This error indicates that LameXP was unable to open/read a required file - one that it just has extracted
-itself. Generally this should never happen, but we have reports that some bogus "anti-vrius" software might
-trigger this kind of errors. Of course there is nothing we can do on our side, if the error is induced by
-proprietary third-party software (such as faulty "anti-virus" software). So please try to temporarily(!)
-uninstall/disable your anti-virus software. If the problem goes away, you can be sure it was caused by the
-anti-virus software. In that case report the bug to the support team of your anti-virus software as soon as
-possible. Or, if they don't fix the bug (in due time), switch to a better anti-virus product!
-
-See also:
-My anti-virus program raises an alarm when I try to download, install or launch LameXP. Why is that?

- -

- -How can I translate LameXP to my language or improve an existing translation?
-
-Please see the guide for translators at:
- -

- -Where can I download the latest version of LameXP?
-
-The latest "official" release of LameXP can be found on the following mirrors:
-

- -Where can I submit bug reports or feature requests?
-
-The preferred place to report bugs or request new features is the LameXP thread at Doom9's Forum:
-
-Please do NOT send me E-Mail unless you really have to! I receive a LOT of E-Mail and your mail can get lost!

- -

- -What programming language is LameXP written in?
-
-While LameXP v3.xx and all earlier versions were written in Delphi/Pascal, starting with version 4.xx the
-software has been re-written in the C++ programming language. LameXP v4.xx is based on the Qt cross-platform
-application framework and offers full Unicode support. For the time being LameXP is Windows-only.

- -

- -Where can I find the LameXP source code?
-
-LameXP is developed using the Git revision control system. You can access one of the public mirrors:
- -
-In case you are new to Git or want to extend your knowledge, have a look at the Pro Git book by Scott Chacon!
-For Windows users, we highly recommend using MSYS Git in conjunction with the superb Tortoise Git front-end.

- -

- -What are the prerequisites to build LameXP from the sources?
-
-LameXP is currently being developed using the following build environment:
-
-Also note the following hints:
-
-In order to use the LameXP deployment scripts you need the following tools:
- -

- -How do I compile latest Qt as 'static' libraries?
-
-In order to make "fully static" builds of LameXP, i.e. builds that don't depend pn any DLL's except for the
-obligatory operating system DLL's, you'll need to compile Qt as 'static' libraries. The following simple
-instructions should make it easy to build Qt from the sources and as "static" libraries:
-

- -eof diff --git a/etc/Redist/Microsoft.VC90.CRT.manifest b/etc/Redist/Microsoft.VC90.CRT.manifest deleted file mode 100644 index 41623b14..00000000 --- a/etc/Redist/Microsoft.VC90.CRT.manifest +++ /dev/null @@ -1,13 +0,0 @@ - - - - - - - diff --git a/etc/Redist/msvcm90.dll b/etc/Redist/msvcm90.dll deleted file mode 100644 index b9cb1231..00000000 Binary files a/etc/Redist/msvcm90.dll and /dev/null differ diff --git a/etc/Redist/msvcp90.dll b/etc/Redist/msvcp90.dll deleted file mode 100644 index 6b07c75a..00000000 Binary files a/etc/Redist/msvcp90.dll and /dev/null differ diff --git a/etc/Redist/msvcr90.dll b/etc/Redist/msvcr90.dll deleted file mode 100644 index a68249aa..00000000 Binary files a/etc/Redist/msvcr90.dll and /dev/null differ diff --git a/src/Config.h b/src/Config.h index b721e6b4..a1e27b3c 100644 --- a/src/Config.h +++ b/src/Config.h @@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ #define VER_LAMEXP_MINOR_LO 2 #define VER_LAMEXP_TYPE Alpha #define VER_LAMEXP_PATCH 1 -#define VER_LAMEXP_BUILD 1703 +#define VER_LAMEXP_BUILD 1704 #define VER_LAMEXP_CONFG 1700 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////